I went to the beach not too long ago. And I saw you there. We longed to see the ocean but once we were close to it, we trembled with uncertainty. That’s when we heard the Lord saying, “Fear not. I am with you. Go forward”. Filled partly with excitement and partly with fear, we both decided to make some changes before the waves approached us.
I drew a circle around me on the sand and so did you. Then we both looked up and promised the Lord that we were going to stay in the circle no matter how high the waves ebb. We were utterly sincere. And sure enough, we stayed in the circle but not for long. We saw the waves eroding the marks on the sand slowly but steadily. Now, we obviously moved from where the circle was but did we really break the promise that we made to the Lord? After all, there is no circle anymore.
Have you found yourself in the story yet? If you are still wondering what this story is about, it’s about you and I and our New Year’s resolutions. We were at the boundary between somewhat certain sand called 2007 and very uncertain waters called 2008 just a month ago. We wanted to clear certain things up in our lives before the waves of life from 2008 approached us. So we decided with sincere hearts to draw a circle around us- the circle of change, a resolution. We were excited about the circle and we finally thought we were in the circle of freedom. Little did we realize that this circle would soon disappear in the horrendous waves of daily routine.
Sure, it may seem like we didn’t do anything to break the promise that we made to God on New Year’s Day, because after all we were as sincere as in the previous years. But deep down inside we know that we lost the freedom that we enjoyed for the few days or even hours being inside that circle.
I don’t know what your New Year’s resolution was and I don’t even know if you broke it already. If you haven’t broken your resolution, you belong to a distinct group of dedicated individuals who stand above millions of people on this planet who broke their resolutions in the very first week. May God bless you to keep on keeping on! But for those of us who have already broken our resolutions, I am not here to offer consolation but rather humble counsel.
The days of the New Year are rapidly getting old but that doesn’t mean our resolutions should. Although I don’t know what your resolution was, I know for sure that it was something good and it must have pleased God. Shout out saying, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” and by all means draw the circle again. Maybe you expected a sudden change, a complete U-turn in life like I did. And maybe, that is not the will of God. Paul had to continually draw his circle again and again as he struggled with his thorn in the flesh. The Bible doesn’t say, ‘Righteous don’t fall’ but it says, ‘Righteous man falls seven times but he rises again’ (Proverbs 24:16). With God’s help, never give up. Rise up and draw your circle of freedom throughout the year till the enemy becomes tired!
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